Balancing game



June 4, 1963 w. L. HERNE 3,092,384

BALANCING GAME Filed April 5. 1960 FIG. 1.

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United States Patent 3,092,384 BALANCING GAME William L. Heme, ElmwoodRoad, White Plains, N.Y. Filed Apr. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 20,123 3 Claims.(Cl. 273-1) This invention relates to games and more particularly tothat type of game which involves skill and balancing judgment on thepart of the players.

It is an object of the invention to provide a game of simpleconstruction and one which may be readily manufactured by injectionmolding and requiring a minimum of factory assembly.

It is another object to provide a game which affords considerableamusement and requires a certain amount of judgment on the part of theplayers for predetermining the position of certain weighted elements inorder to maintain a condition of balance of a holder element.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a game whichwith simple structural elements can efiect a build-up of a rather largeconfiguration, wherein balance of the system progresses ironr acondition of relative stability to one of exciting and sometimesinobvious instability.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from thedetailed description which follows.

Briefly, the invention comprises a bowlshaped holder having a generallyspherical contour which is rested on its rounded end on a table. Aplurality of playing elements such as slender rods having certainattachment means at each end is provided, there being added massprovided at one end of each rod. The holder element is also providedwith an attaching element. Thus, after a first rod is secured to theholder element, a second rod may be secured to the extending end of thefirst rod in various positions with respect thereto. Then other rods areadditionally secured end to end in one or more configurations. Eachplayer in turn secures a rod to some point in the configuration which inaccordance with his judgment or guess will keep the holder means fromtipping beyond a specified limit. When a player attaches a rod whichcauses the holder means to tip to a predetermined extent, he iseliminated, and thus the game proceeds until ultimately one playeremerges victorious.

A detailed description of the invention will now be given in conjunctionwith the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the game showing the disposition of theelements in the course of play.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the holder element.

FIG. 3 is a section through 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3a is a modified version of the holder element.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one of the playing elements, and

FIG. 5 is an elevation thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, there is disclosed a generally bowl-shapedholder element having a spherically contoured body 14, a radial flange17, and a centrally disposed inner collar 22. The holder element 10 maybe integrally molded of plastic and is provided at its lowermost portionwith an attaching element 25 having a hub insertable in collar 22 and anextending cas-tellated tubular neck 28, the outer end of which isprovided with diametric slots 32. Preferably the attaching element iscemented within collar 22 so as to be permanently fixed therein, or itmay be force fitted.

If desired, a slug of metal 35 or other heavy material may be utilized,as shown in FIG. 30 within the attaching element for providing a morestable condition. Thus, in FIG. 3a the bowl-shaped holder may be made intwo sections and cemented (not shown) on the line Y--Y, enclosing theslug or pellet 35. Alternately, of course, such a weight could beenclosed within the hollow space within the lower end of the attachingelement 25 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a playing unit or element is disclosedwhich will be seen to be a generally flat rod 40 reinforced by anintegrally molded rib 43 Which stops short of the right-hand end of therod. Such end of the rod is provided with a cross-arm 46 inwardly of theextreme tip as shown. The other end of the rod is molded with adisk-like mass 49 from center of which extends in each direction a dualcastellated socket or tubular support and attachment means structure 53having four diametrically arranged slots 56. As seen in FIG. 4, theslots 56 are space-d apart. The width of slots 32 are such as tosli-dably accommodate the thickness of the rod. Thus, as seen in FIG. 1,the cross-arm 46 is slid into slot 32 and the playing element thusstands upright in the bowl 10. In a similar manner, the width of allslots 56 can accommodate the cross-arm end of any of the rods. It willbe noted that due to the cruciform arrangement of slots 56 at both sidesof the rods, a large variety and choice of selection is provided forattachment. Specifically, at the end of any rod a player can attach thecross-arm end of the next rod at eight different positions. Thus, asshown in FIG. 1, wherein a branched configuration has been built up, itwill be apparent that the player whose turn it is can make attachment atthirty-two different positions, affording a large variety of choices andrequiring a certain amount of judgment as to where to place a rod sothat the general configuration will not tip over.

In accordance with the rules of play, should the flange 17 touch thetable, or should any rod touch the table, the player who positioned arod thus eifecting such touching is eliminated.

While it would appear at first glance to be a relatively simple matterto place rods so as to maintain balance, actually, in play, variousconfigurations provide hidden surprises due to the extra weight broughtinto the problem by the masses 49 in distributed array and also due tothe flexible nature of the rods wherein they bend due to the weightcarried. Thus, as viewed in FIG. 1, either of the lower horizontal rodsattached to the central vertical rod is experiencing some flexing,although not yet very perceptible, but as the configurations are builtup the flexing will increase. Such flexure changes the moment arms in amanner which is extremely diflicult to take into account When decidingwhere to place another rod on the configuration. As a matter of fact,confident players are readily fooled by the device, which lendsconsiderable amusement to the game. Accordingly, by providing slenderrods capable of flexing under light loads, a game which aifords muchmerriment is effected.

It is apparent that various changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore theinvention is not limited to the precise illustration given except as setforth in the appended claims.

I claim:

'1. A balancing skill game comprising a balanceable, rockable basehaving stable equilibrium and a. plurality of identical, elongatedplaying elements :having selective multi-position attachment means attheir ends, said rockable base having an attachment means engageablewith at least one end of any of said playing elements for securing saidplaying element thereto, the attachment means of said playing elementsbeing operative to effect an unsymmetrical configuration of saidelements by selective sequential attachments of playing elements to eachother, wherein the center of gravity of said configuration is capable ofmaintaining said base in a balanced condition.

2. A balancing skill game comprising a hollow bowl having a flange andadapted to rest with said flange in a generally horizontal plane above asupporting surface, an attaching means disposed axially within saidbowl, a pillrality of elements having attachment means at at least oneend thereof engageable with the attaching means of said bowl, saidelements being attachable to each other sequentially end-to-end toelfect a configuration beyond the confines of said bowl tending to tiltsaid bowl to an angle at which said flange touches said supportingsurface.

3. In a game as set forth in claim 2, said playing elements beingcomprised of a flexible material wherein lowermost elements in saidassembly may be flexed under the weight of subsequently attachedelements carried thereby to change the moment arm of the assembly massacting to tilt said bowl.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,039,121 Semple Apr. 28, 1936 2,103,467 Konikofii Dec. 28, 19372,104,742 Fleischer Jan. 1-1, 1938 2,458,306 Schneider Jan. 4, 19492,732,654 Sullivan Jan. 31, 1956 2,858,640 Drobniewski Nov. 4, 1958

1. A BALANCING SKILL GAME COMPRISING A BALANCEABLE, ROCKABLE BASE HAVINGSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM AND A PLURALITY OF IDENTICAL, ELONGATED PLAYINGELEMENTS HAVING SELECTIVE MULTI-POSITION ATTACHMENT MEANS AT THEIR ENDS,SAID ROCKABLE BASE HAVING AN ATTACHMENT MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH AT LEASTONE END OF ANY OF SAID PLAYING ELEMENTS FOR SECURING SAID PLAYINGELEMENT THERETO, THE ATTACHMENT MEANS OF SAID PLAYING ELEMENTS BEINGOPERATIVE TO EFFECT AN UNSYMMETRICAL CONFIGURATION OF SAID ELEMENTS BYSELECTIVE SEQUENTIAL ATTACHMENTS OF PLAYING ELEMENTS TO EACH OTHER,WHEREIN THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF SAID CONFIGURATION IS CAPABLE OFMAINTAINING SAID BASE IN A BALANCED CONDITION.